Thaumaturgist
Well-Known Member
OK,
For my first batch, I made a honey brown ale extract kit from Midwest Supplies. In my infinite newbie wisdom, I got my kit, and promptly made the best of newbie mistakes. I'll list the ones that I know about, and all the expert EAC's can tell me what else I did wrong.
1. Steeped the specialty grains in 5 gallons of water.
2. Dumped out the specialty grains, and added the hops to this bag (I don't know if this was bad, or not, but I don't think I'll do it this way again.) There may have been a few husks left in the bag, but I tried to get them all out.
3. Added all the hops for a partial boil to my full boil.
So, bottom line, the beer after 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 1 week bottle conditioning had a very bitter/astringent aftertaste... I don't know how to tell the difference, but I just don't think it tastes right. It has the same flavor as the foam that formed when I first dumped/stirred into the primary, so I don't think that it is an infection, but I could be wrong.
I know it's a bit soon to be trying it , but I couldn't wait to try my first batch :cross:
Questions:
Is there any thing else that could cause this taste?
Will the taste mellow as it ages longer?
Good news: At approximately 6.4% ABV, by the time I was getting to the bottom of the beer the flavor was still there, but it wasn't bothering me as much.
For my first batch, I made a honey brown ale extract kit from Midwest Supplies. In my infinite newbie wisdom, I got my kit, and promptly made the best of newbie mistakes. I'll list the ones that I know about, and all the expert EAC's can tell me what else I did wrong.
1. Steeped the specialty grains in 5 gallons of water.
2. Dumped out the specialty grains, and added the hops to this bag (I don't know if this was bad, or not, but I don't think I'll do it this way again.) There may have been a few husks left in the bag, but I tried to get them all out.
3. Added all the hops for a partial boil to my full boil.
So, bottom line, the beer after 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 1 week bottle conditioning had a very bitter/astringent aftertaste... I don't know how to tell the difference, but I just don't think it tastes right. It has the same flavor as the foam that formed when I first dumped/stirred into the primary, so I don't think that it is an infection, but I could be wrong.
I know it's a bit soon to be trying it , but I couldn't wait to try my first batch :cross:
Questions:
Is there any thing else that could cause this taste?
Will the taste mellow as it ages longer?
Good news: At approximately 6.4% ABV, by the time I was getting to the bottom of the beer the flavor was still there, but it wasn't bothering me as much.